Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding
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Disheartened by the shrink-wrapped, Styrofoam-packed state of contemporary supermarket fruits and vegetables, many shoppers hark back to a more innocent time, to visions of succulent red tomatoes plucked straight from the vine, gleaming orange carrots pulled from loamy brown soil, swirling heads of green lettuce basking in the sun. With Hybrid, Noel Kingsbury reveals that even those imaginary perfect foods are themselves far from anything that could properly be called natural; rather, they represent the end of a millennia-long history of selective breeding and hybridization. Starting his story at the birth of agriculture, Kingsbury traces the history of human attempts to make plants more reliable, productive, and nutritious—a story that owes as much to accident and error as to innovation and experiment. Drawing on historical and scientific accounts, as well as a rich trove of anecdotes, Kingsbury shows how scientists, amateur breeders, and countless anonymous farmers and gardeners slowly caused the evolutionary pressures of nature to be supplanted by those of human needs—and thus led us from sparse wild grasses to succulent corn cobs, and from mealy, white wild carrots to the juicy vegetables we enjoy today. At the same time, Kingsbury reminds us that contemporary controversies over the Green Revolution and genetically modified crops are not new; plant breeding has always had a political dimension. A powerful reminder of the complicated and ever-evolving relationship between humans and the natural world, Hybrid will give readers a thoughtful new perspective on—and a renewed appreciation of—the cereal crops, vegetables, fruits, and flowers that are central to our way of life. Discover "Shoppers who shun genetically modified foods in favor of ''natural'' fruits and veggies may be in for a surprise. Horticulturalist Kingsbury''s lively history documents the history of human meddling with plant genes since the dawn of agriculture."-Discover
AcknowledgmentsA Note on Names Introduction Part OneFrom the Birth of Agriculture to the Birth of Genetics One. Origins: The Domestication of Plants Two. Landraces: Bedrock of Traditional Agriculture Three. “Improvement”: The Agricultural Revolution Four. Vegetable Mules: The Beginnings of Deliberate Breeding Five. Empire: Globalization in Earnest Six. Breakthrough: Gregor Mendel Seven. Germination: Mendelism and Plant Breeding in the Early Twentieth Century Eight. Luther Burbank: Miracle Worker or Charlatan? Nine. “Let History Judge”: Plant Breeding and Politics in the USSR Part TwoFlowering of a Technology Ten. Hybrid! Corn and the Brave New World of F1 Hybridization Eleven. Cornucopia: Genetics Opens up the Horn of Plenty Twelve. Green Revolution: Can Plant Breeding Feed the World? Thirteen. Ornament: Furnishing Our Gardens Fourteen. Ownership and Diversity: Issues of Property Rights over Plant Genetic Resources Fifteen. Conclusions Technical NotesBibliographic EssayWorks Cited and ConsultedIndex
